


I Told You I'm Not a Raccoon

by FlynnItUp



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-06 06:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14635881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlynnItUp/pseuds/FlynnItUp
Summary: Rocket Raccoon, haunted by dreams of a woman called Lucy Preston, resolves to travel to Earth to find answers. Why, in the dreams, does she call him Garcia Flynn?This is a highly AU version of Rocket Raccoon's creation.





	1. One

{Lucy}

That name had been in my head more often than not these days. I’d thought after a while I’d blocked the name, and the strange images that went with it, completely out. Seems I was wrong. The face of a woman came to me in my dreams, a beautiful chick with dark hair and a dazzling smile. She spoke to me in my dreams. But she didn’t speak to me as Rocket. She spoke to me as someone else entirely. But the name was always blocked out when she spoke it – her lips moved but the only sound was white noise. I had no damn idea who she was or if I knew her or whether she was a figment of my imagination….but whatever way you looked at it, it was freakin’ me out.

My fellow Guardians had certainly noticed that something was wrong. I’d been crabbier than usual lately, snapping at everyone for no reason whatsoever. Even Groot had felt the sharp edge of my tongue, poor sapling. I’d taken to spending more and more time on my own, contemplating just what the hell these dreams even meant.

Truth was, I didn’t really remember a thing before waking up on that damned table on Halfworld. All I knew was that I’d been fucked about with by those blue faced bastards over and over again, cybernetically and genetically enhanced. When I woke up I wasn’t known as Rocket. They’d given me a number instead – 89P13. What my name had been before I’d been constantly pulled apart and put back together again, I had no idea.

But I had a feeling this Lucy chick, the woman with the beautiful smile, was trying to tell me something in my dreams.

“I am Groot…”

I wasn’t really in the mood to deal with Groot right now so I pretended not to hear him, instead concentrating on fixing the gun in my paws. I turned it this way and that, reconnecting the wiring until lights flashed on and off, until the barrel began to charge. 

“I. Am. GROOT!”

Exhaling a long sigh, my ears flattened in a mixture of irritation and exhaustion before setting the oversized gun down and turning to Groot. His overly adorable baby self scowled up at me, his little eyes narrowing. But I knew he meant well.

“I’m not sad. Why would I be sad?” I shrugged a shoulder, another sigh escaping as Groot decided to clamber up on my shoulder.

“I am Groot” He snuggled into my side, burying his face in his fur of my neck and that was it. I broke.

Who would have thought I had tears in me, huh? I had no idea what I was or really who I was, only that I was full of rage yet here I was bawling like a goddamn baby. Years of pent up anger, aggression and hurt spilled from my eyes, soaking my fur. All because my best friend in the whole world just told me he loved me. 

“Love you too, buddy…”

What I wanted in this moment was the chick named Lucy, whoever the hell she was. Even if she wasn’t real, she was real enough in my dreams. And her beautiful face offered me a modicum of comfort that I hadn’t ever really known. So I peeled Groot away from me and set him down, muttering that it was time for bed before getting up and wandering to my own bed. For the dreams. For the comfort I’d find in the quite possibly imaginary woman.

***  
{“Lucy!”

The scream that tore itself from my lips in that moment didn’t even sound like me. The accent was…hell, I didn’t know. Somewhere on Earth, by the sounds and looks of things. Not that I knew. I hadn’t ever been there.

Had I?

I thrashed about beneath the blankets, unable to pull myself awake. Instead I was being shot at by….holy /shit/, were they the Kree? And then one of them landed a shot causing my legs to buckle, making me fall forward. I was shocked to see that my hands weren’t the paws I was normally used to. No, instead I had hands just like Quill’s. I had the hands of a Terran.

I slowly glanced up, gaze falling upon the stricken face of Lucy. Tears streamed from her eyes and she screamed my name. Screamed for me to get up and run. But she was more important. I shook my head at her, heart swelling with love and respect for this beautiful and brave woman. And then I told her to run.

She said my name. No. She screamed it.

And this time it wasn’t drowned out by white noise.

“Flynn! You have to get up! They’re coming!”

“No, Lucy. Get out of here. You have to get out of here….” I bet the smile break out across my face then, trying desperately to let her know that it was okay. I was ready to die as long as she was safe, “I told you we’d make a great team one day…”

The heavy footsteps of the blue creatures got closer and I heard their guns again, heard them growl instructions to take me and kill the girl. This was her last chance to get out of here and she knew it.

“I’ll find you one day, I promise. I’ll find you and bring you home. I love you, Garcia Flynn…”}

***  
I woke up screaming, convinced for a moment that I was still in the nightmare. Convinced that the Kree were really here and I was about to be torn apart. I could still see her face, see her tears, swimming in front of my eyes and I was struck with white hot anger. I’d left her alone – I was struck with the sudden realisation that at some point I had promised to protect her, to love her, to never once leave her and I’d not followed through on my promise.

I was also struck with the realisation that what I’d dreamed about wasn’t a dream at all.

It was a memory.

She’d called me Garcia Flynn.

My name was Garcia Flynn and I was originally from Earth.

It sounded fucking stupid. How could that be? But then again I supposed anything was possible. After all, Gamora’s sister had been turned into a fucking cyborg by her crazy father. After all, Quill had been abducted from earth. Who was to say that I hadn’t been abducted and then experimented on and placed in Halfworld to looks after those crazy halfwits…?

Still, as I began to calm down I remembered where I was. I was on the Guardian’s ship. Everyone was sleeping. I could hear Drax’s snoring. I could hear Gamora’s steady breathing. I was here among friends. But one thing was for sure.

I was going to Earth to find answers.

And nothing any of those guys could say would change my mind.


	2. Two

“Why the hell do you wanna go to Earth?!”

Quill was pissed. Gone was the guy who constantly made jokes, who sat there singing along to his stupid songs. This was a man who looked like he was about to skin me alive. And I got it, I really did. This was a guy who hadn’t been to his home planet since he’d watched his mother die, who avoided the place at all costs, and here I was demanding that we go there.

“Because I need answers, you idiot!” My ears were flattened against my head, eyes flashing with ire towards this human.

“Answers for what?! That you think you were human once upon a time?! Come ON, Rocket! You’re a goddamn RACCOON!”

“DON’T CALL ME A RACCOON!” Teeth were shown then, a growl rumbling in my throat.

“Well you are one! You’re not human. You were never human! You’re a freaking raccoon dreaming about some human chick that doesn’t exist! You wanna go to Earth, you go on your own!”

The Milano fell silent, the atmosphere so tense you could practically hear the electricity crackling between Quill and I. My paws balled into fists at my side, my entire body leaning forward as my rage projected itself as if it were a ball of energy. I hadn’t been this angry in a long time – how dare Quill say that Lucy didn’t exist? How dare he say I was chasing some sort of pipe dream?

“Screw you, Quill!” I turned towards Groot then, who was busy staring up at the two of us and looking like he was about to burst into tears, “Come on Groot!”

I turned from Quill then, marching towards the pod. There was no way in hell I was going to let that idiot get in the way of this. I had to go. I absolutely had to go and if he didn’t understand that then he was stupid. Behind me I heard the pitter patter of Groot’s feet before Gamora cleared her throat, causing the two of us to stop.

“You can’t take Groot, Rocket. He’s still too little.”

My answer was simply to look down at the little sapling who shrugged and turned to Gamora, “I am Groot”

He was going he said, and she couldn’t stop him. Then he rushed to me and clambered up safely onto my shoulder. As we stepped into the pod and got strapped in, all that was left in our wake was a stony silence.

***  
“I am Groot”

Flipping a few switches on the dash, I turned to Groot, “No we’re not nearly there yet.”

“I am Groot?”

“I don’t know how much farther. Can’t you just…sleep, or something?”

He shook his little head, “I am Groot!”

He wasn’t tired. He wanted to talk about the dreams I’d been having. 

“I am Groot”

He knew I woke up screaming most nights and wanted to know who Lucy was.

A heavy sigh escaped me then and I turned back, engaging the thrusters before choosing my words carefully, “We’re going to Earth to find out those answers, buddy. I don’t know if Lucy is real or not, but in my dreams she called me by another name. She called me – and don’t you dare laugh at this – Garcia Flynn. Then I dreamed that I was captured by the Kree and experimented on…and I had human hands. Sounds crazy, huh?”

He was silent for a moment before turning to stare at me, “I am Groot”

According to Groot, I was fucking crazy.

“Watch your language! Now sit back and shut up, we’ve got a long flight ahead”

***  
{Earth: The Lighthouse}

“Sir, we’ve just spotted an unknown ship enter the atmosphere”

Philip J. Coulson stepped up behind May and squinted at the control screen. There was indeed an unknown ship showing on there and for a moment he was gripped with panic – what if it was the Kree? What if this was yet another attempted alien invasion that could end up destroying the world? He dragged a hand down his face before concentrating once more on the screen before him.

It wasn’t a big ship that was for sure. Rather it looked like some sort of pod. Surely such a small thing couldn’t have an invading army in it….could it?

“Daisy. I want you and May to go and find out just who or what is on that ship. If they’re friendly then…I guess we roll out the welcome van for them”

Daisy Johnson, tall and pretty with a shock of wavy dark hair gave a simple nod. She knew what was meant by ‘if they’re friendly’ – if they weren’t then she’d send them right back to where they came from. Hell, one look at May and they’d probably run crying for their mothers anyway.

“Yes Sir”

Daisy, or Quake as she was known to many, followed Agent Melinda May from the control room towards where the quinjet was parked. They said nothing as they went – they didn’t need to. Instead they were in mission mode. Professional all the damn way. But little did they know that once they greeted whoever was on that ship that professionalism would go straight out of the window.


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rocket and Groot arrive on Earth, where they come face to face with a team who can help find Lucy Preston.

The pod fell to the ground with a thump – it hadn’t been an easy landing and in truth, I hadn’t been prepared for just how bumpy the ride through Earth’s atmosphere would be. But still, we were here now and on terra firma and…

“What the hell, Groot?!”

I twisted in my seat as the acrid smell of vomit invaded my senses, pulling a face as I noticed the strangely bright green barf all down Groot’s front. Great, so I’d have to clean the sapling up before we could even think about doing anything. Expelling a sigh, I unstrapped myself from the pilot’s seat and wandered over to him to pick him up. He simply blinked at me in that stupidly adorable way of his, causing me to shake my head as I carried him towards the back of the pod.

“You and travel sickness…who’d have thought a damn tree could throw up?”

“I am Groot” he mumbled sadly, exclaiming that he didn’t feel well.

There was a t-shirt of Quill’s thrown listlessly on one of the chairs – I reached for it and bunched it up in my paws before wiping the gross sapling vomit away from Groot’s mouth, “It’s okay buddy. We’re about to go outside and find Lucy…not that I know where the hell she even is….”

“I am…Groot?”

I blinked dumbly at Groot for a moment before lifting him up onto my shoulder. His question was fair – if I didn’t know where she was, then how were we supposed to find her? Well, I guessed that would be a bridge I’d crossed when we came to it. For now, it was time to head out into the world of humans. I just hoped they weren’t all as moronic as Peter Quill.

***  
“Is that a Raccoon?!”

The words escaped Daisy Johnson’s mouth before she could stop herself from saying them, her eyes wide as she took in the two strange…creatures…that stepped out of the pod. One of them was definitely a Raccoon – and it was walking on /two legs/ - whilst the other…

“That’s a tree…” Agent Melinda May put Daisy’s thoughts into words, her hand immediately moving to the gun at her side. 

Daisy shot May a look before staring back at the Raccoon and the tiny tree. They’d stopped, the raccoon looking like he was about to rip their throats out with his sharp little teeth. But what happened next had Daisy ready to either run away screaming, or to shoot the furball in the face…

“Don’t call me a Raccoon!”

Both agents fell silent, staring at the two creatures as if they had two heads. Did….did that /animal/ just speak? And why was he wearing clothes? Was that a gun strapped to his back?

“Are you gonna just stand there staring…” the raccoon set the tiny tree down, “Or are you going to tell me where the hell we are?!”

***  
I scowled at the two women as he faced off against them, barely paying any attention as Groot rushed at one of them, kicking the younger woman’s foot and yelling up at her. He didn’t like the two of them, evidently, especially because they were staring at the two of them like they were aliens or something.

But then again, they were. At least according to human standards.

“I AM GROOT!” He shouted as loud as he could up at the woman.

“The tree speaks?” She arched a brow before crouching down to gaze curiously at Groot, “That’s…that’s really awesome.”

I shook my head, “He says you’re a bitch for staring at us. But whatever. I’m Rocket and this is Groot…”

“I. AM. GROOT!” He started to attack her with his little fists, only growing angrier when the woman began to laugh.

“He’s cute. Is that all he can say?”

“Oh he says a lot in just those three words. Trust me. Who the hell are you two anyway?”

The older woman spoke then, her arms crossed over her chest, “We’re from SHIELD. I’m Agent May, this is Agent Johnson. I’m afraid you’ll have to come with us. We can’t just let a…” she almost said /Raccoon/ causing my ears to flatten in irritation, “A couple of beings from across the galaxy walk around in broad daylight.”

I tilted my head to the side, eyeing this Agent May with an air of suspicion. I didn’t quite fancy being taken prisoner by a Terran woman – yet the two of them seemed real enough. Perhaps…perhaps they could help me. SHIELD sounded like they were important – hell, they must be if they were named after an item of defence.

“Makes sense I guess. Just don’t go locking us up. We’re here for a reason and I’d rather get started right away…come here, Groot…” I scooped Groot up as he shuffled over, settling him back on my shoulder, “Maybe you can help me. I’m looking for someone.”

***  
{The Lighthouse}

I felt uncomfortable under the stares of all these humans, even if they did seem nice enough. In the few hours since Groot and I had been in this…lighthouse…we’d been introduced to the team. Daisy, Fitz, Simmons, Coulson, Yo-Yo and Mack. I liked Daisy the best. She was nice. And pretty, super pretty. And /inhuman/, the sort of person that those Kree bastards so desperately wanted to enslave.

She’d been the one most interested in helping me. Her and the one called Coulson – I guessed he was their leader. The moment I’d told them I was looking for someone named Lucy Preston, hope had sparked in me when I’d noticed them share a look together. They knew something, that was what the look told me.

“Why are you looking for this Lucy Preston?” Coulson asked, grinning down at Groot as he wandered along the top of one of the desks, “Call me curious.”

“I am Groot” Groot said authoritatively, sitting myself down on the edge of the table. I’d dreamed about her, he said, and that my name wasn’t really Rocket.

I translated for the Terran, “I’ve been dreaming about Lucy Preston for a long time. It’s never been very clear until recently, but I knew that she had answers. And then I heard her call me by another name in my dream…Garcia Flynn. I don’t even know if she’s real but if she is…”

“She’s real, alright…” Daisy spoke up then, hitting a couple of keys on her keyboard and bringing up a screen on the wall, “And so’s Garcia Flynn”

Turning my attention to the wall, I remained silent as I stared up at a picture of the woman I had been seeing in my dreams for months now. She was right there, exactly as I had imagined her. Chestnut hair fell about her shoulders and her eyes were full of mirth whilst that smile seemed to light up the room, “That’s her…” I breathed the words, barely able to tear my gaze away from it.

“Garcia Flynn went missing a few years back, just disappeared completely. We assumed that he’d been taken out by Rittenhouse…”

That name. Rittenhouse. It caused my legs to go weak and I had to sit myself down on the nearest chair. Rittenhouse.

They’d killed…

No, it hadn’t been Rittenhouse. Whoever the hell they were. It had been the Kree. They’d taken this Flynn guy and experimented on him. They’d had him begging for Lucy as they’d torn him apart over and over, had him screaming for someone called Lorena as well.

“Do you know where she is?” I asked the question so quietly it was practically less than a whisper. 

But it didn’t stop these Agents of SHIELD from hearing me, and for the one named Simmons to bend down and gently run a hand over my fur. When she spoke, her voice had me relaxing. She was kind, gentle and soothing. I liked her almost immediately.

“We know where she is. I’ll get in touch with Agent Christopher.”


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agent Christopher receives a phone call with a fresh lead on the whereabouts of Garcia Flynn

Lucy Preston scowled at Agent Christopher from across the table. The whole team were tired, utterly fed up and completely lost. Since Flynn had been taken by those weird blue aliens nothing had been the same, not really. Whilst Rittenhouse were still up to no good, Garcia Flynn had become an integral part of the Time Team. And then when he was taken…

Tears pricked at her eyes as she thought about that night. She hadn’t been able to stop them as they’d taken him right from under their nose. She’d screamed at him that she’d find him again, that she’d save him. That she loved him.

And then nothing.

He was gone.

And yet again, she’d been left entirely alone.

The others had tried their best to be there for her. Rufus had tried to make her laugh. Jiya had offered her girls nights with bottles of red wine. Wyatt had….Wyatt had tried to make a move and been given a slap for it. She had thought he’d gotten over her but the moment Flynn was out of the way it seemed as if he had forgotten Jessica all over again. She’d sent him running with his tail between his legs.

But now something was happening. Agent Christopher was talking on the phone to someone who she gathered was called ‘Coulson’, her voice hushed. But Lucy knew that it was partly about her from the way Christopher kept glancing over at her.

“You’re sure?” Christopher sank down into a chair, her fingers drumming on the table top.

The rest of the team hung about, glancing uncertainly at each other. Truth be told Lucy found herself growing beyond annoyed at the whole thing.

“Alright…I’ll make sure the team are ready. See you soon.” She pressed end on the phone call and set her phone down slowly on the desk.

“Well?” Lucy wasn’t about to hold any punches. She wanted to know what was going on.

A long sigh escaped Agent Denise Christopher’s lips and she folded her hands before her on the table. She remained silent for a moment before glancing around at the team, eventually settling her gaze upon Lucy Preston.

“I’ve just been on the phone with SHIELD…”

The whole room fell utterly silent then. They’d all heard of SHIELD – the group who had headed the Avengers at one point, the group who had been called terrorists, the group who despite everything had saved the world on more than one occasion.

“And what the hell do SHIELD want with us, Agent Christopher?” Wyatt hiked a brow.

Denise Christopher shook her head yet her gaze never once left Lucy. And her next words had Lucy springing to her feet, hope bursting from her very soul.

“They’ve got a lead on the whereabouts of Garcia Flynn…”


End file.
